After so many years of Elena being in a constant state of angst, Caroline couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed by her friend’s inebriation. It was nice to see Elena having fun for once.

They’d been several hundred feet in the air before Elena discovered small planes made her a nervous flier. With few other options, they had opened a bottle of bubbly to placate her nerves. The expensive brand, Caroline didn’t recognize, had gone straight to the bride’s head. Wishing she could say the same, Caroline finished the rest of the champagne in her flute quickly.

There was a time in her life when she would have begrudged her good friend for marrying into the Salvatore name. The Salvatore’s came from Money, capital M necessary, hence why the girls were currently seated on a private plane headed to a luxurious hotel suite. Not to mention, her husband-to-be was crazy about her. Elena was one lucky girl. But Caroline had grown past petty jealousy, and truly wished her friend nothing but happiness.

Still, she couldn’t quite get herself into the partying mood her other two friends were in. Her recent break up with her on-again off-again boyfriend, Tyler, had seen to that. They had a fiery, passionate relationship over the years that had its share of ups and downs, but this time she was certain they had parted for good. It wasn’t exactly a surprise things between them hadn’t ended in happily ever after, but the way things had ended still stung. Caroline had never been a cheater, and she resented the accusation insinuating she was one in their final blowout. It stayed with her even now, two months later.

“Is there anything stronger to drink?” Caroline asked determined to start putting her troubles behind her, for now at least.

“Oh, Care Bear,” Elena rested her head on her friend’s shoulder comfortingly and slung her arm around her. “You need to forget about that jerk.”

“I know, it’s just Ty-”

“No!” Elena interrupted pointing at Caroline and instructing, “We will not talk about him, we will not think about him, we’re not even going to say his name.”

“As ill advised as it may be to take advice from the drunk girl, she’s right,” Bonnie agreed setting down a glass of freshly poured bourbon in front of the blonde, “You need to find a smokin’ rebound Vegas style so you can put that asshole behind you.”

“I don’t know,” Caroline hedged.

Bonnie and Elena shared a look that didn’t go unnoticed.

“What?” she looked back and forth at her friends. “What?” she asked again when they didn’t answer.

“I didn’t want to tell you until after our trip, but Tyler sent in his RSVP,” Elena tightened her arm around Caroline.

“Oh,” she whispered softly.

“That’s not all,” Bonnie sat down on Caroline’s other side. “He’s bringing a plus one.”

“Oh,” she repeated.

Bonnie pushed the bourbon closer to her. Finishing it off in one gulp, Caroline set the glass back down harshly, “I’m going to need another drink.”

Ever the dutiful friend, Bonnie retrieved the bottle from the bar.

+++

Caroline cursed her days as a party girl in college. She could hardly call herself tipsy when the plane landed, and by the time they reached the hotel she was completely sober. Elena on the other hand had always been a bit of a goody-two-shoes.

“Wow!” the champagne happy girl spun around in the middle of the large sitting room under the high vaulted ceiling. “This is amazing.”

“Shot gun the shower!” Caroline called over her shoulder passing by the others as she headed toward the bedroom, “Private plane or not, I always feel icky after a long flight.”

Elena giggled as she equal parts sat and fell onto the sleek, modern couch.

Bonnie rolled her eyes affectionately at her friend’s antics, “I’m fixing you some coffee.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Elena nodded, smiling drunkenly from the couch.

Elena lay prone still on the couch and Bonnie went about unpacking their bags as they waited for the coffee to brew.  Bonnie had just finished when the timer on the coffee pot sounded.

“Just how long does it take Caroline to shower?” Elena asked as Bonnie passed her to get the coffee from the suite’s full kitchen.

“Anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour,” she answered from her experience as the blonde’s former roommate. “If it’s half as luxurious as the rest of this place, she’ll be at least an hour if not longer. She might even run herself a bath.”

“What does she do in there?” she asked perplexed, accepting a mug from Bonnie.

“How would I know?” Bonnie raised an eyebrow, “Ask her yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Elena sipped at her coffee. “I’m not Tyler.”

“He’s such an idiot,” Bonnie huffed.

“Agreed,” Elena sighed.

“I can’t believe he thought Caroline cheated on him with me!” Bonnie exclaimed, still exasperated and offended on her friend’s behalf.

“Whether she admits it or not, you know she only agreed to that threesome with Vicki because he wanted it,” Elena shook her head. “And then he gets all paranoid and insecure because she actually enjoyed it? It doesn’t make any sense! If he couldn’t handle it he shouldn’t have asked for it.”

“He doesn’t make any sense, period,” Bonnie concluded, leaning back against the couch and crossing her arms over her chest.

“I wish Care wasn’t so hung up on him. He’s not worth it.”

“Definitely not worth it,” Bonnie agreed.

Elena sat up at attention suddenly, “I know what we can do to help her!”

“What?” Bonnie asked tepidly. Elena’s spur of the moment ideas didn’t always pan out for the best.

Rebekah scowled but kept her mouth shut reminding herself that finding another designer of Caroline’s caliber with such short notice would be impossible; not to mention her fiancé wouldn’t be pleased if she started a cat fight with one of his closest friends. Normally, a Mikaelson would have their pick of any designer and an army of seamstresses at their disposal, but just like everything else about her romance with Matt, their engagement was flying at lightning speed. They had met a mere four months ago and neither of their friends or family had approved. His friends insisted she was a snob, and her family considered him low class. But neither of the two had ever been so sure of anything as their relationship, so two weeks ago when they discovered she was expecting Matt had immediately proposed. Not wanting the most important people in their lives to argue they were marrying because of her pregnancy, which they most definitely were not, they had yet to break the news.

Rebekah was interrupted from her train of thought by an irritated Caroline, “Do you have to pee?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re doing the pee pee dance,” Caroline pointed out.

“Oh,” she hadn’t realized it but a trip to the loo was in fact in order, “I’m afraid so.”

“Here, I’ll help you out of the dress,” Caroline’s face softened at the embarrassed look on Rebekah’s face.

Rebekah let out a breath of relief as Caroline untied the corset top and carefully removed the expensive silk from her body.

“The chest is a little tight,” she noted making her way to the bathroom.

“I noticed,” Caroline answered in a funny voice, but Rebekah didn’t take the time to analyze it as she shut the bathroom door behind her.

When she came back out to the fitting area, Caroline was measuring the material around the bust of her gown. Looking up slowly, Caroline met her gaze with a raised brow.

“Is there anything you’d like to share Rebekah?”

The blonde in question crossed her arms defensively, “No.”

“Last week we left an extra half inch in the bust so you could wear a padded bra, and now it fits too snug. Either you had the most subtle boob job in history or…,” Caroline trailed off leaving Rebekah to fill in the rest.

“Fine!” Rebekah threw her hands up into the air, going into a tirade and pacing the short length of the room, “I’m pregnant! Are you happy?! No, you know what? I don’t care if you’re happy, because Matt and I are fucking ecstatic and I will not let you ruin this for either one of us! Do you understand me? So keep your judgments to yourself!” Rebekah finished with hot, angry tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall.

Rebekah squeaked in surprise when Caroline wrapped her arms around her, whispering, “Congratulations.”

Rebekah continued to stand in shock for a couple of moments before reciprocating the hug and smiling through the tears she could no longer contain, “Thank you.”

Caroline pulled back with a beaming smile that matched Rebekah’s, “Hey, hey why are you crying?”

“It’s these damn hormones,” Rebekah wiped at her tears. “We’ve just been so afraid if we told anyone all we would get was negative feedback. It’s been hard to be happy about the pregnancy when I’m not in my Matt bubble.”

“Matt bubble?” Caroline giggled.

Rebekah giggled in return, “He just, he makes everything else disappear and when I’m with him nothing horrible has ever happened or will ever happen. He makes me the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Aw,” Caroline cooed holding out Rebekah’s dress for her to put back on, “That’s so sweet. Matt’s gonna be such a good daddy.”

Rebekah smiled in agreement placing a loving hand on her stomach as Caroline pulled the material over her shoulders.

 Caroline placed her hand over Rebekah’s, “And I know we don’t know each other that well, but if nothing else, I can vouch from earlier you are going to be one of the most fiercely protective mothers I’ve ever known. The kid isn’t even kicking yet and you’re already a momma tiger.”

Rebekah’s radiant smile stayed on her face for the remainder of the fitting.

They arranged an extra two fittings before the wedding to keep up with any of her body’s changes, and Rebekah promised to coerce her straggling brothers to come in for their fittings.

“I know I have their measurements, but it really is best to have them try them on in person for any last minute alterations,” Caroline informed the bride. “All my day time slots are still booked, but anytime after 8pm is fine. Just let me know when they can make it, and I’ll stay late.”

“Thank you so much Caroline, and they’ll be here,” Rebekah promised, “I’ll make sure they come in even if I have to drag them by the ear.”

“Hopefully that won’t be necessary,” Caroline laughed over her shoulder as she hung the gown back up.